Contractor Problems.....

[Sickness91Z28]

I'll never make this mistake again...

At the beginning of June, my wife and I decided to get a garage built, a new roof on our house, new windows, new doors, 6 ft. privacy fence with gates, new concrete driveway, and several tree's cut down. I ended up paying our contractor in full...I trusted him. For about a month, here had been at out house for most of the week....then he started to barely show up. Here it is...the end of November and he still isn't done. Not only that, but his quality of work is horrible. I have given this guy over $47,000...and I feel like we got taken advantage of. He hasn't even ordered our windows yet...and he's had all summer to get our house done. I just reported him to the BBB. Here are some pictures of what kind of work I've been getting out of him:















The gates he built are completely cracking and falling apart
The concrete looks horrible, it has all kinds of swirls in it and very large low spots that hold water and will barely dry up
The splattered concrete all over my brand new garage door
He put dirt down but didn't pack it and add more so it's settling and very uneven, he should have put sod in
The carpet on my porch is coming unglued
He put several nails in my siding on the garage I had built
There are foot prints in the concrete
There is a pile of dirt that still needs hauled off

I'm just not sure what to do. I have nothing in writing. My fault is that I trust people waaaay to much. Any suggestions?

[Spartan01]

Hire a lawyer!
and report him to Angie's List.

[pocketcthulhu]

I don't have any experience in dealing with contractor's so I'm just going to limit my comments to "Man that sucks"

Originally Posted by Spartan01

Hire a lawyer!
and report him to Angie's List.

I'd have to agree, you very well could have some legal recourse here, couldn't hurt to talk to one.

[jewel25]

Dude that is awful work. I am sorry but I had to laugh at the two screws

You should have paid me almost 50K, I would have done a better job and I'm a girl that knows nothing about building shit.

[pocketcthulhu]

Originally Posted by jewel25

Dude that is awful work. I am sorry but I had to laugh at the two screws

You should have paid me almost 50K, I would have done a better job and I'm a girl that knows nothing about building shit.

[greenisgood]

A little late now, but never never never pay up front. A down payment, payments along the way if its a big job, and always have a good chunk for a final payment.....when youre satisfied! Not trying to be a jerk, the work obviously sucks, but now you're limited in what you can do about it. Good luck

[Sickness91Z28]

Originally Posted by greenisgood

A little late now, but never never never pay up front. A down payment, payments along the way if its a big job, and always have a good chunk for a final payment.....when youre satisfied! Not trying to be a jerk, the work obviously sucks, but now you're limited in what you can do about it. Good luck

Exactly
This is the first home I've owned and I've never had any kind of major work done. I've seen some of his work in the past and it looked great...not sure what happened when it came to my house. I need to learn not to trust people as much as I do...which is pretty sad!

[WarMachineZL1]

The thing to remember other than the advice given by Green is that generally speaking, contractors are only going to show you the best work they have done. Same with references. They aren't going to provide a reference who won't give them glowing reviews. It is a shame that we have to be overly cautious and un-trusting these days, but that is the way of the world i guess now. Little honor anymore. Hope it all works out for you.

[jewel25]

Originally Posted by WarMachineZL1

The thing to remember other than the advice given by Green is that generally speaking, contractors are only going to show you the best work they have done. Same with references. They aren't going to provide a reference who won't give them glowing reviews. It is a shame that we have to be overly cautious and un-trusting these days, but that is the way of the world i guess now. Little honor anymore. Hope it all works out for you.

That is why I would rather do it myself. Watch a few youtube videos and get a permit and BAMMMMMM!!!!! DONE!!!!!! Might not be done correctly but at least my work will be better than the OP's contactor.

[LuSe4]

Wow!
I am an architect, so I deal with contractors regularly. There are good ones and bad ones. This guys already has your money so he doesn't have much to lose by cutting corners. As already stated, if you had paid him in installments, then he would have a reason to keep showing up. It sucks, but I would consider a lawyer if you can not get him to fix this shoddy work.

[JTruck]

Sad to see this, as you are going to have to go to court to figure this one out.

My father is a contractor and usually functions by half up-front and half once the job is complete. No matter how much of a facade the contractor may give you up-front, you NEVER pay in full, especially almost $50k...

It's apparent to me from the get-go that this "contractor" is a fluke. No reputable contractor doesn't make a contract between themselves and the customer. Contractors that have been in business enough have these contracts for themselves most of the time because of previous bad-apple customers. Is this "contractor" licensed, bonded or insured?

Now, just because you don't have a written contract doesn't mean you are screwed... Because there is a legal binding through verbal contracts, just harder to prove. I suggest you collect as much communication that you have with this person whether it be e-mails, texts, voice mails, sketches, etc. to show what was talked about for the job.

PS: Reporting someone to the BBB is a joke, doesn't really mean anything. BBB is a company its own, it's not a government agency or have any bearing over companies in anyway. It's just a place for disgruntled customers to air their short-comings about businesses, even though 90% it is the customer's fault. (Not saying that this is your fault.)

Contact the "contractor", tell him you will be turning to legal action unless you two can figure out a compromise for this issue that you both agree on.

This cannot be hashed out in small claims court, which is a max of $5000 for a claim.

Best of luck to you.

[motorhead]

I'am an HVAC contractor and that upsets me to see that work. We never ask for full payment up front nor would we expect that. That was a huge mistake, but I'm sure you don't need to here that now. Did you have a written contract with him that broke down everything he was to provide along with a time line? Also did both of you sign the contract? If so, you should be able to sue him to make it right. I would find a respectable company and have them give you a bid to make it right. This will help with your battle against the piece of shit that did this. Also with that kind of money small claims court would cut it.

[JTruck]

By the way, after I look at the pictures, the wood used in some of those pictures, simply said are pieces of s***. Not even wood, ground up wood fibers compressed into planks. Basically plywood. Worst wood you would want to use for fences.

[Sickness91Z28]

I have told this guy 3-4 times that that I plan on getting a lawyer if nothing is done about it. He basically laughed in my face and told me to bring it on. I do not threaten him one bit. One thing I know too is that he went to my bank and cashed the checks....meaning he's trying to stay under the radar so he doesn't have to pay taxes on $50k. I guess if I had to, I could contact the IRS and they could start an investigation on him.


I do have a contract.....but it only shows for a 24X24 garage and a new roof for my house...which came to about $20K. The rest of the improvements (concrete driveway, windows, new porch, privacy fence with gates, trees removed) was verbally added...nothing in writing.